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Post by Dr Tom on Mar 1, 2018 12:08:31 GMT
I missed the earlier stages of the tour but caught this on Tuesday in Wolverhampton. There was an understudy on for Tracy whose name was announced, but it was a rather loud audience and I didn't catch it properly. She was very good, as were all of the cast.
A very good show, marred slightly by the singing and clapping along section of the audience (but it was Wolverhampton). Like everyone has said, the sets are rather trimmed back. But it was pretty full, the show was well-received and I imagine in will continue to tour with this version as it's successful.
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578 posts
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Post by michalnowicki on Mar 13, 2018 10:19:09 GMT
Saw this last night in Edinburgh Playhouse and I really wanted to love it, but I felt it was overall very mediocre. Positives first  The standout was definitely the actor playing Seaweed, he had amazing moves and a really good voice (although he was out of breath in some numbers). Actress playing Motormouth was fantastic and she brought the house down. I also loved the chemistry between Wilbur and Edna - out of 3 touring productions I've seen, they were the best I think. Some things didn't work during "You're timeless to me", and they were in stitches, but didn't lose character. Now for the negatives  I found the actress playing Tracy to be too OTT and squeaky (too "panto" for my liking), although she had a good singing voice. I didn't like the bare set and the overuse of projections. Whatever they were using as the backdrop for projections was too light and it moved everyone walked past it, which made whatever was projected to move in a weird way - extremely distracting. I was really surprised that in the first Corny Collins scene all male dancers had dirty costumes. They had dark stains on their knees, as if they didn't manage to clean them after the rehearsals. Costumes looked badly creased and a bit cheap. There were also some problems with props - in the scene before "You're timeless to me", the balloon (?) that Wilbur is inflating blew up super quickly, but the actors played it out in a very funny way. When Motormouth and the kids were "watching TV" to find out Tracy escaped jail, the TV screen was facing the audience and everyone was BEHIND the screen, which meant they weren't watching anything in the TV, but they were watching the back of TV. Actress playing Motormouth tried to move it slightly, and they started smiling to other cast members. At the end of the show, when the big hairspray can was brought on stage, the lights at the bottom of the can were flickering as if something was short-circuiting. Weird. I don't know what it is, but the 2 previous tours that came to Edinburgh were great, everyone in the audience was dancing at the end of the show, but last night you could see a lot of people just sitting down. I hope they will manage to iron out issues for the rest of the tour, because it's a fantastic, positive and uplifting musical. When done right. |
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Post by Dr Tom on Mar 13, 2018 10:29:55 GMT
The standout was definitely the actor playing Seaweed, he had amazing moves and a really good voice (although he was out of breath in some numbers). Actress playing Motormouth was fantastic and she brought the house down. I also loved the chemistry between Wilbur and Edna - out of 3 touring productions I've seen, they were the best I think. Some things didn't work during "You're timeless to me", and they were in stitches, but didn't lose character. I think the "ad-libs" and corpsing in "You're timeless to me" are in there every night, at least they were a few weeks ago when I saw this. But certainly agree there's great chemistry there and the audience lapped it all up. |
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Post by ensembleswings on Mar 13, 2018 16:26:13 GMT
There were definitely a few ad-libs during "You're Timeless To Me" when I saw the show in Bristol last week. Though I'm still not 100% sure whether they were planning on them happening or not. Both actors completely lost it laughing at one point (having to turn away from each other and the audience to regain their composure) but they remained in character and the audience were loving it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 16:30:21 GMT
They've had ad-libs in that song since at least the West End run, there's no way on earth it's organic. Which is a shame, 'cos that sort of corpsing is what appears to be real to an audience and it's just... well, a filthy filthy lie. I don't approve, can you tell? |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2018 12:14:21 GMT
Saw this last night in Edinburgh Playhouse and I really wanted to love it, but I felt it was overall very mediocre. Positives first The standout was definitely the actor playing Seaweed, he had amazing moves and a really good voice (although he was out of breath in some numbers). Actress playing Motormouth was fantastic and she brought the house down. I also loved the chemistry between Wilbur and Edna - out of 3 touring productions I've seen, they were the best I think. Some things didn't work during "You're timeless to me", and they were in stitches, but didn't lose character. Now for the negatives I found the actress playing Tracy to be too OTT and squeaky (too "panto" for my liking), although she had a good singing voice. I didn't like the bare set and the overuse of projections. Whatever they were using as the backdrop for projections was too light and it moved everyone walked past it, which made whatever was projected to move in a weird way - extremely distracting. I was really surprised that in the first Corny Collins scene all male dancers had dirty costumes. They had dark stains on their knees, as if they didn't manage to clean them after the rehearsals. Costumes looked badly creased and a bit cheap. There were also some problems with props - in the scene before "You're timeless to me", the balloon (?) that Wilbur is inflating blew up super quickly, but the actors played it out in a very funny way. When Motormouth and the kids were "watching TV" to find out Tracy escaped jail, the TV screen was facing the audience and everyone was BEHIND the screen, which meant they weren't watching anything in the TV, but they were watching the back of TV. Actress playing Motormouth tried to move it slightly, and they started smiling to other cast members. At the end of the show, when the big hairspray can was brought on stage, the lights at the bottom of the can were flickering as if something was short-circuiting. Weird. I don't know what it is, but the 2 previous tours that came to Edinburgh were great, everyone in the audience was dancing at the end of the show, but last night you could see a lot of people just sitting down. I hope they will manage to iron out issues for the rest of the tour, because it's a fantastic, positive and uplifting musical. When done right. Was Edward Chitticks any good as Link? Sounds like borderline Kenwright to me... |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Mar 25, 2018 12:37:30 GMT
. I was really surprised that in the first Corny Collins scene all male dancers had dirty costumes. They had dark stains on their knees, as if they didn't manage to clean them after the rehearsals. Costumes looked badly creased and a bit cheap. I hope they will manage to iron out issues for the rest of the tour, because it's a fantastic, positive and uplifting musical. When done right. It’s been on the road for 7 months already, I suspected it would past it’s best by the time it hit Manchester and sounds like I was right hence I’m giving it a miss next week. They’re losing the attention to detail and things are slipping possibly due to penny pinching. Compare with Miss Saigon which has been out for a similar length of time and sounds like it’s as fresh as a daisy, no doubt because CM wont allow a run down looking production out on your with his name attached to it. If people have paid £50 to sit in the stalls for Hairspray they have the right to expect that close up the quality and attention to detail will be the same as on opening night. |
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Post by theatreian on Mar 25, 2018 15:07:01 GMT
I was really surprised that in the first Corny Collins scene all male dancers had dirty costumes. They had dark stains on their knees, I wonder what those male dancers were doing on their knees. |
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578 posts
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Post by michalnowicki on Mar 26, 2018 9:12:15 GMT
Was Edward Chitticks any good as Link? He was alright. Didn't take my breath away to be honest. If people have paid £50 to sit in the stalls for Hairspray they have the right to expect that close up the quality and attention to detail will be the same as on opening night. You are right Burly. It can be months for them, but for most members of the audience it's the first time they are seeing the production. I wonder what those male dancers were doing on their knees. Tut tut... |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2018 21:00:30 GMT
Saw this last night in Edinburgh Playhouse and I really wanted to love it, but I felt it was overall very mediocre. Positives first The standout was definitely the actor playing Seaweed, he had amazing moves and a really good voice (although he was out of breath in some numbers). Actress playing Motormouth was fantastic and she brought the house down. I also loved the chemistry between Wilbur and Edna - out of 3 touring productions I've seen, they were the best I think. Some things didn't work during "You're timeless to me", and they were in stitches, but didn't lose character. Now for the negatives I found the actress playing Tracy to be too OTT and squeaky (too "panto" for my liking), although she had a good singing voice. I didn't like the bare set and the overuse of projections. Whatever they were using as the backdrop for projections was too light and it moved everyone walked past it, which made whatever was projected to move in a weird way - extremely distracting. I was really surprised that in the first Corny Collins scene all male dancers had dirty costumes. They had dark stains on their knees, as if they didn't manage to clean them after the rehearsals. Costumes looked badly creased and a bit cheap. There were also some problems with props - in the scene before "You're timeless to me", the balloon (?) that Wilbur is inflating blew up super quickly, but the actors played it out in a very funny way. When Motormouth and the kids were "watching TV" to find out Tracy escaped jail, the TV screen was facing the audience and everyone was BEHIND the screen, which meant they weren't watching anything in the TV, but they were watching the back of TV. Actress playing Motormouth tried to move it slightly, and they started smiling to other cast members. At the end of the show, when the big hairspray can was brought on stage, the lights at the bottom of the can were flickering as if something was short-circuiting. Weird. I don't know what it is, but the 2 previous tours that came to Edinburgh were great, everyone in the audience was dancing at the end of the show, but last night you could see a lot of people just sitting down. I hope they will manage to iron out issues for the rest of the tour, because it's a fantastic, positive and uplifting musical. When done right. Hairspray is actually an amazing show but I am yet to find a production that does it right. This production just sounds downright cheap and low budget to me and it’s a damn shame that little to no money has been spent on making it great. From the costumes to the faulty hairspray can to the prop errors it just sounds very amateurish and Kenwrighty if you ask me! |
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Post by robertb213 on Mar 27, 2018 21:02:07 GMT
Might try and see this cheap in MK in April - disappointing to hear it's a bit on the cheap/tired side but I've seen it 3 times already and I'm only really going to hear Brenda Edwards belt out 'I Know Where I've Been' 😁
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2018 21:32:22 GMT
Looks like this production will be doing the rounds for a while. I read on Broadway World that the producer had extended the rights for the UK/Ireland tour through 2021.
Hopefully in that time they wash the costumes and add a bit more scenery as I would quite like to go watch it the next time it hits Edinburgh.
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Post by littlefluffychick on Apr 10, 2018 15:33:44 GMT
I saw Hairspray in Milton Keynes last night and I have to say I thought it was terrific. Yes the set is very minimal, and yes some of the male dancers had dusty trouser knees from (shock horror) dancing, but that didn’t detract in any way from what a talented cast this is. The energy, the score and the excellent choreography were uplifting. The guy playing Seaweed (Layton) was in a class of his own and really stood out, fab dancer. Also Brenda Edwards was epic. However, this has to be one of the strongest casts I have ever seen in a touring production - no weak Links; if you will pardon the cheesy Hairspray pun! Don’t avoid this production thinking it’s a sad Ken Wainwright level show, it’s not. It’s full of joy, young talent and has a very inspiring message to boot.
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Post by robertb213 on Apr 10, 2018 18:34:07 GMT
I saw Hairspray in Milton Keynes last night and I have to say I thought it was terrific. Yes the set is very minimal, and yes some of the male dancers had dusty trouser knees from (shock horror) dancing, but that didn’t detract in any way from what a talented cast this is. The energy, the score and the excellent choreography were uplifting. The guy playing Seaweed (Layton) was in a class of his own and really stood out, fab dancer. Also Brenda Edwards was epic. However, this has to be one of the strongest casts I have ever seen in a touring production - no weak Links; if you will pardon the cheesy Hairspray pun! Don’t avoid this production thinking it’s a sad Ken Wainwright level show, it’s not. It’s full of joy, young talent and has a very inspiring message to boot. I was there too and thoroughly agree, I thought it was my great. It was my third overall viewing of the show and it's such a great fun musical. The leads were all really strong (even if Tracy was a bit nasal at times, and Edna was a bit weaker than others I've seen) and the evening flew by. I only really went to see Brenda Edwards, and her belting of I Know Where I've Been was worth the price of the ticket alone. Stunning 😁 |
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Apr 10, 2018 18:49:37 GMT
Brenda was amaze when I saw it with her first time round. Shook the theatre. Force of nature!
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Post by PhantomNcl on Jun 26, 2018 14:22:51 GMT
I saw this last night and loved it.
The set is a huge improvement on the previous UK tour, particularly the trucks which bring Edna's ironing board and Penny's bedroom onto the stage. In the last tour they emerged through black 'fly curtains' (basically long strips hanging down) but kept getting caught on the ironing board and bed frame, whereas now there are two walls which slide upwards and the truck moves out from underneath them.
I wasn't so struck with Edna - she didn't have the shyness that other Ednas have had, and the role was played more 'man in a dress' than female (if that makes sense) but she had great chemistry with Wilbur. I wasn't overly keen on the very obvious 'ad libs' and corpsing during 'Timeless To Me' but generally the roles were played well. Nice to see a Wilbur who isn't stunt cast too, and can actually sing!
The rest of the cast have great energy, and the sound was excellent. The standout for me though is Brenda Edwards as Maybelle - her voice is absolutely perfect for the role, and she has both the sass for 'Big, Blonde and Beautiful' and the power and control for 'I Know Where I've Been'. It was great to see the audience on their feet at the curtain calls, and lots of smiling faces on the way out!
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Post by LaLuPone on May 2, 2019 9:34:28 GMT
Touring again next year! It’s the “smaller” production again but I still think it’s a joyous, enjoyable show however it’s done.
Edit: Oh wow they’ve announced this quite in advance, opens SEPTEMBER 2020 in Manchester!
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Post by xanady on May 2, 2019 20:10:41 GMT
Another Hairspray tour...Stop the world,I want to get off 🤮
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3,325 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on May 2, 2019 20:56:06 GMT
All credit to the producers able to recognise and tour the shows people want to see.
After all, we could be in North America with a few hundred miles between tour stops.
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I found the actress playing Tracy to be too OTT and squeaky (too "panto" for my liking), although she had a good singing voice. I didn't like the bare set and the overuse of projections. Whatever they were using as the backdrop for projections was too light and it moved everyone walked past it, which made whatever was projected to move in a weird way - extremely distracting. I was really surprised that in the first Corny Collins scene all male dancers had dirty costumes. They had dark stains on their knees, as if they didn't manage to clean them after the rehearsals. Costumes looked badly creased and a bit cheap.
